2 weeks between waterings? Really????

[shotrocker]

Not 2 weeks yet - that was to get your attention - but 8 days and counting. 8 days ago I did a transplant of my first grow, moving from 16 oz. cups to 3 gallon pots. As suggested elsewhere on this forum, after transplanting I flushed each of them with close to a gallon of water a piece. Since then, the girls have been growing nicely. The thing is, the soil shows no sign of drying out soon. They are in a 4 x 4 tent, 600 watts, 18/6, humidity in the 30's and temps in the 70's. Do I just continue to wait for the pots to get dry or do I step in sometime and say, this is crazy, I should give them water?

 

[gotigers0420]

Nope, if their not droopin, its because they are spreading those roots and gettin to the water. that is ideal. if they droop throw some h2o at em. lookin good!

 

[Blaze Master]

you should water them when they need it

 

[Destillat]

What's up with the stunted one in the bottom right? Every garden has one I guess anyway, they look great. I say wait.

 

[ROBSTERB]

as above said, as they/roots grow you will have to water more and more, once theyve got a good root system you should need to water every 3 days on average,

on a side note ive had runts like that, which ive nearly binned only for them to turn out the best of the lot.

 

[*BUDS]

Thats ok bro they take time to start growing and consuming water after transplant,dont water or feed until the pot drys and is light to lift. Also next time transplant into a smaller pot ive found recovery time is quicker.

 

[shotrocker]

on a side note ive had runts like that, which ive nearly binned only for them to turn out the best of the lot.

Ha! I was going to say goodbye to her except I keep hearing that! It'll be fun to see what happens.

 

[Destillat]

Don't let the hype fool you. The runt will still turn into a sad depressing plant 80% of the time lol. I always grow mine out too tho, dunno why

 

[CashCrops]

I just did the same bro and yea the soil is staying moist longer then I expected so I'm just waiting it out

 

[Warlock1369]

I keep the rungs going. Sometimes a letdown others not. My last grow the runt was half the size of all the others. Come harvest she was still small but budded like crazy. Got 3oz from her and 4 from the others.

 

[sarita99]

I agree with BUDS. The problem is you transplanted from a small 2 cup container to a big 3 gallon container. No way the roots can reach the water at the bottom of the pot, so the water just sits there until the roots can finally reach it. If you transplant to an intermediate container like a 1 gallon, you don't have that problem.

 

[shotrocker]

I agree with BUDS. The problem is you transplanted from a small 2 cup container to a big 3 gallon container. No way the roots can reach the water at the bottom of the pot, so the water just sits there until the roots can finally reach it. If you transplant to an intermediate container like a 1 gallon, you don't have that problem.

But is it a problem? I got advice both ways on this but left the 1 gallon pots aside in favor of going right to the 3 gallons, in order to minimize stress.

 

[ROBSTERB]

no its not a problem, apart from the one your having now, dont worry you will be sick of watering them soon enough. lol

 

[roidrage152]

They look good, doesn't matter how long its been since you watered, don't force it. Especially since you said you drenched em on transplant (I usually do that too) 8 days is nothing. You are probably getting close to needing to water them again. Factors related to how often you'll need to water are plant/root size, air flow, humidity, and pot size to plant size to name a few. My vegging plants can sometimes last a long time while they are young. Don't worry about your pots being too big, your roots will fill it before you know it.

I'm having mixed thoughts about my clone/seedling first transplant pot size, I had previously used 1 gallon pots, but I get root bound pretty fast for my taste considering I veg for like 7 weeks and ultimately go to a 15 gallon. I was thinking of starting in 5 gallon pots, but decided to go with 1 gallon smart pots for now. I'm hoping the root pruning will keep me from getting root bound, and save me some of my room footprint with the smaller size.

 

[Destillat]

The benefits of using an intermediary pot like transplanting from party cup, to 1 gallon, to 3 gallon is the size of your root ball. Roots tend to grow outwards and slip through the space between the side of the pots and the soil. Proponents of multiple transplantings say a well developed root ball is the most important part of a well producing plant.

I grow hydroponically now, so i can't say whether or not I would go through the effort to do this. I will say, this is the number one way to avoid root bound plants.

 

[ROBSTERB]

i think you are better going up in pot sizes instead of starter pots straight to 3-5 gallon, some of my friends rpot 4 times, basically once a week in veg, finishing in 3 gallon going in to flower, thats abit much for me, i go from starter pots(half gallonish) then to about a gallon and a half, then finish in 3 gallon, from start to finish its around the 3 day mark for water/feed. i also find the plants grow alot quicker this way, because the roots fill the pot alot quicker so the plant concentrates on top growth sooner. i dont know if what ive just wrote is true but it looked that way to me.